Pinole City Council meeting, 2-20-2024

Today, 2-20 – Regular City Council meeting, 5 PM, Hybrid. You can find the agenda packet here – note that the city is shifting to a new agenda website.

To start, there are three closed session items- Conference with Labor Negotiators, for the city’s Engineers, Public Employee Appointment for City Attorney, and Public Employee Performance Evaluation for the Interim City Manager. I would not expect the council to return before 6 PM.

For proclamations, there’s a Centenarian recognition for Mary Bianchini Highfill (page 6), Japanese Day of Remembrance (marking the anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which gave the US army the power to remove civillians from the west coast and was used to intern 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry, page 7), and recognizing Fiat Music’s 50th Anniversary. There is also a department update by the Pinole Police Department.

Then there’s the consent calendar- There’s the normal minutes and warrants, a resolution to adopt a revised compensation and benefits plan for management and confidential employees (new police role, pay range adjustments, flexible healthcare spending account contribution, life insurance benefit increase, long term disability insurance benefit increase and short term benefit removal and shift of employees to state plan, new retirement account type with matching city contribution, longevity pay. Total new cost $164,320 (pages 43-45).

Followed by a contract for scanning/imaging services to digitize older public works and community development paperwork (result of request for proposals given by 4 entities, city staff recommends SoftFile, for current Financial Year (FY) has funds set aside of $100,000 already. page 92), development process and timeline for the FY2024-25 operating and capital budget (begins 2/27/24, Council meeting for mid-year budget review and budget admentments 3/5/24, community survey in March, Finance Subcommittee meeting for financial policy updates 3/27, department budget reports March-April, Finance subcommittee meeting for baseline budget and Capital Improvement Project (CIP) status/baseline 4/10/24, City Council meeting for updated master fee schedule and updated financial policies 4/16/24, Special council workshop on baseline budget items and CIP, allowing for council requests for staff analysis of potential additions/deletions to either 4/30/24, City Council meeting presenting preliminary proposed operating and capital budget and CIP for FY 2024-25, including staff analysis of council suggestions 5/21/24, Pinole-Hercules wastewater subcommittee meeting for preliminary proposed FY 2024-25 operating and capital budget for the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) 5/23/24, Planning commission meeting to review the preliminary proposed FY 2024-25 CIP 5/27/24, City Council meeting to review revised proposed budget and CIP  6/4/24, City Council meeting to adopt final proposed budget, CIP and appropriations limit 6/18/24, Special city council meeting if necessary to adopt revisions to final proposed budget, CIP and appropriations limit 6/25/24 (pages 134-5).

Then there’s a side letter to return an education incentive for associate’s degrees to the Pinole Police Employee’s Association labor agreement (net cost $25,600, page 137), the second quarter report on implementation of CIP projects (highlights noted on pages 143-7), a resolution to maintain the Stormwater Utility Area assessment at $35 per equivalent runoff unit (page 224), and placement of liens for delinquent unpaid waste collection charges (total lien $49,887.02 page 228). After that, there is a resolution to hire the Lew Edwards group to consult on informational outreach and surveys related to a fall revenue measure or measures (cost $113,500 page 232), and a resolution authorizing the City to apply for the Prohousing Incentive Program and receive funds from it (potential gain of $650,000 page 273).

Finally, there is one new business item- adoption of the Parks Master Plan.

You can join the meeting by zoom direct link here, entering the webinar ID 893 3500 0272 into zoom directly, or calling +1 (669) 900-6833 or +1 (253) 215-8782 or +1 (346) 248-7799, then entering the meeting ID 893 3500 0272#. Once in the meeting by phone, you can raise your hand by pressing *9, and unmute by pressing *6 once called on. You can also attend the meeting in person at Pinole City Hall, 2131 Pear St.